Chateau de Melin, Burgundy

We stayed the night at this chateau in the middle of Burgundy. The arrangement was made by Joëlle’s sister Aurore and her husband Francis. Francis knows the owners of this chateau, and Aurore gave Brian and Clare the best room! They also gave us a nice price.

The beautifully restored chateau featured spiral stairs in each tower to access the upper floors from doors in the courtyard. Breakfast was in the room adjacent to the terrace on the right. Wine tasting was in a basement room.

The modern sign at the entrance gate and the restored doors to the towers. There are many contrasts of old and modern.

We tasted wines made at the chateau from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. Each wine is made from grapes from a particular area to emphasize certain characteristics of the terroir. There was a friendly cat in the courtyard.

Chateau de Savigny-les-Beaune, Burgundy

This large spread was a collection of transport vehicles and military planes, a bit of a surprise.

The chateau and every other space is filled with various collections.

Fiat Abarth race cars were always red, but not an old Harley-Davidson motorcycle. There were few signs or explanations in the collections, but we guess this motorcycle is from the 1940s.

Out among vineyards we found the collection of fighter jets and other aircraft, the largest such collection in the world. Brian was interested in the F-104 on the right as his godfather piloted this plane in the 1960s.

The courtyard was nice but it was too hot without some shade.

Hospices de Beaune

Joëlle and Marc’s vacation starts now. While Brian and Clare have been able to relax and enjoy their hospitality, they were still at home taking care of everything and everyone. Eleven people one night! Now, for the next four days, the four of us travel to special sites, some of which Marc and Joëlle have not yet explored.

First, we visited the Hospices de Beaune, a 15th century hospital dedicated to healing the less fortunate.

The building surrounded a large courtyard. The part of the building with the lower ceiling was for the people who could pay for their treatment and included some single rooms. The huge room with 28 beds along the sides and a chapel at one end was where the poor were cared for.

An ornate, glass tile is only visible from the courtyard. WOW!

Inside the larger section. Beds, isolated from each other with low walls and ceilings, lined each wall, with access for nursing staff via a corridor along the wall behind the beds.

We toured inside both parts of the old hospital, with entertaining lectures (on audio tour device) from actors depicting the couple who created the hospital. The hospital itself was run by nuns, who believed that they were taking care of both the bodies and souls of their patients.

Device for administering drugs and the pharmacy where various concoctions were made.

A mineral show was in the conference hall across the street from the Hospices. A sculpture celebrating the wine industry was in the park near the restaurant area where we had lunch. We ate salads and fish and chips; Clare and Brian tried Kir (Crème de Cassis and white wine). We thought it was interesting!

Palais Facteur Cheval

A mailman found a particularly beautiful rock, which inspired him to build a temple to life, an ideal palace. Over 33 years, he collected more rocks and other objects along his postal route, made drawings from his dreams and created a beautiful place.

Brian found out about this palace from a book, Atlas Obscura. Marc and Joelle heard of it but had never gone. But before we went to the palace, on Simon’s recommendation, we found Cheval’s tomb (which he created in a similar style about 10 years before his death).

Joëlle, Marc and Clare in front of the Cheval’s tomb.

The palace itself is large, ornate, and asymmetrical. Each side presents a different theme. Some of the original art is no longer visible, but the palace is still worth a visit.

The palace, while not very large, took over 30 years to complete and received accolades from many contemporary artists.

It was fun discovering the details of the palace, though we had to watch our heads going up or down stairs.

Often, a different artist is invited to show their work for a month or so, as long as they preserve the dignity of the palace itself. When we were there, the artist specialized in glass. They put pieces into the pots where the original artist showed plants.